Worse, the very fact that laws had been on the books for decades, unchallenged, that denied citizenshp based on race flatly contradicts the statement the standard policy in the US was to grant citizenship to everyone born here.
If that means what you claim, why didn't the Court stop right there? What was that not sufficient to find the apellee a citizen?You seem to have answered your own question. Yes, the situation in the U.S. was more complex considering the laws and policies addressed by the 14'th Amendment, which pushed the Court to additional considerations.Worse, the very fact that laws had been on the books for decades, unchallenged, that denied citizenshp based on race flatly contradicts the statement the standard policy in the US was to grant citizenship to everyone born here.
That said, I don't really understand why the WKA opinion needed to be as long as it was.